And away we go. . . .
November 27, 2007I keep a six-week-at-a-glance dry erase calendar on the side of my fridge. The boys actually request that I keep it current because they like to see what’s going on (nosy little sh**s 
), but more than anything it jogs my memory in the mornings when we are having breakfast and making lunches, who needs to be where and when that day or the next. Ok, so the 6th week expired a week ago. BB has been on me about it, "Mom, WHEN are you going to update?" Ok, so I couldn’t sleep last night, and while I was trying to catch up on a mountain of laundry I thought it would be good to get "updated" so I can try to control my time better around the holidays. Yeah, good luck with that one. . . .it’s not even 24 hours old. . . .
), and headed off to JC Penney’s to be there when they opened at 4 a.m. I drove up, found a parking spot right in front, and just as I headed to the door, they unlocked their doors and let the line of people in, who did so in a single-file manner. Very civilized. Once inside, I found the items I went there for, a steal if I might add, and several additional items I hadn’t planned on purchasing (go figure). All in all, I saved over $368 on my little basket of goodies. I was very excited. I never had to bump elbows with anyone reaching for the same thing, even had people actually stop and offer to help me find a basket. One woman even helped me find an item in the size I was searching for and found a "cheaper" version of the item too. Very civilized. I ran into T.J., and old friend and ex-employee from the restaurant days, hadn’t seen him for about 6 years. I ran into BB’s teacher too. All in all, a nice, productive, pleasant morning. Then I headed over the hill to Wal-Mart. It was a bit faster pace inside that store, but I still managed to find some great deals and even some I hadn’t gone in for 
. I left there very excited that I almost had completed my Christmas shopping and it was only the day after Thanksgiving! And had saved a fortune doing so! Then I ventured over to Sam’s Club. Ran into a few old friends there as well. Found exactly what I was looking for there and after checking out, they treated me to a nice warm breakfast. They had a buffet set up free for customers complete with bagels, muffins, danish, fresh fruit, yogurt, and hot Jimmy Dean sausage and egg sandwiches, OJ, bottled water and coffee. Pretty amazing. And VERY civilized. Then, I decided since I was on such a roll, I’d head over to the new Target and check out their sales. Then on to Bed, Bath and Beyond, Cost Plus Market, and then on to Office Max to use up my $10 gift card there. I found a wireless router on sale for $19.99 so my out-of-pocket ended up being $10. I was so happy 
! By this time it was about 10 a.m. and I was starting to notice my lack of sleep the night before. So, I headed home, unloaded all my goodies into my garage, and headed over to my mother’s to pick up my boys. One was still asleep, the other had only been up about 10 minutes. Pretty good timing if I might say so myself. Very civilized. They slept right through my Christmas splurging. Awesome. Done. Very very civilized. Now all I have to do is drag it all out while they are at school and wrap. So, mom says she had promised them McDonald’s for breakfast. It’s after 11 so they settled on lunch. We met her up at McDonald’s had lunch and parted ways. Then went home. Sweet sleepful bliss, I was hoping. Not. I remembered an item I had forgotten to pick up that morning. Major ticket item. I called the store, and they promised to still honor the doorbuster price from earlier this morning if I came today. So, my friend Jennifer took my kids so I could run out there "for a half hour" and pick it up. I got it, at the promised price. Very civilized. Today is just too good to be true. I decided to poke my head into Ross for a minute since she had the kids and see if they still had an item one of the boys had been lamenting over earlier in the week. They did! Very civilized. Then I hit the floor. Very uncivilized. Next thing I know, I wake up surrounded by concerned-looking people, some lookie-loos, and the paramedics. So, Jennifer, bless her heart, had my kids a little longer than she bargained for. Two and a half hours later, I called her and she brought them home. I made sure they were fed and ok, then I laid down on the couch to "rest." I woke up around 10:30 and shuffled everyone off to bed. I went back to sleep. I woke up at 3:40 this afternoon. I guess I was tired. I can’t believe the boys let me sleep that long either. Very civilized. Then, I see clips on the news about the "Black Friday" madness at the mall. People trampling people to get in, extra security called in, etc. Too bad they didn’t come with me. My experience wasn’t like that at all. They give the "Black Friday" shopping day a bad name. It really was very civilized. Oh yeah, and my head hurts from my fall. Ow.
. Truly. Oh yeah, and we had a Halloween Party at our house for BB and LB and their friends from school, campaign speeches, awards assemblies, BB received the Great Author award this quarter (a story he wrote will be published in a permanent book in the school library), and we had a rollerdrome party/celebration tonight with 10 of his "closest" friends and LB’s friends. LOL. 